Meeting Halfway
by Lanmwolf
Summary: Set after Season 5, Episode 9: One, Maybe Two, Ways Out  warning contains spoilers . Shules. After Shawn and Juliet share a moment, can they both admit their feelings for each other and overcome obstacles in their paths to find love?
1. Chapter 1

_**A/N: Okay, so this is my first Psych FanFic Ever. I was inspired after watching the last episode (Season 5, Episode 9: One, Maybe Two, Ways Out). This is based after that episode (contains spoilers so be warned). I'm not really sure how long this story is going to be, I'm going to base that off of fan response. Will be Shules. Please review and don't be afraid of giving constructive criticism or story ideas (I value all reviews).**_

_Disclaimer: I do not own Pysch or the Characters. This story is written purely for entertainment value and no financial gain._

Shawn stopped about halfway to the car and stared longingly at Declan's door. More specifically at the spot where he imagined that Juliet would be standing if only his greatest wish were to come true and she were to fling open the door and shout for him to stop, to come running into his arms and kiss him until they both were desperate for air.

He felt heat rush through his body as he remembered the kiss they had just shared moments ago. He had been doing the hardest thing that he had ever done in his life, trying to genuinely let go of Juliet so that she could move on with her life without him as an obstacle to her happiness. He knew that it wouldn't be easy, but he knew that if he truly loved her, which he did, that he would do anything to make her happy, even if that meant he would have to live through torture every day seeing her with someone else.

He had been in too much pain to try to cover up his words with his usual wit and sarcasm or to have even seen how much sadness his words were causing her. He just tried to stumble through his speech and was met with surprise when her lips came crashing down on his. It didn't take long for him to kiss her back and he felt electric currents flow through his entire body as his heart threatened to explode out of his chest. Then suddenly Jules had pulled back from the kiss and he'd felt like his entire world was spinning. He felt euphoria from the kiss, longing to continue the kiss, and confusion as to why'd she'd broken off the kiss or even kissed him in the first place to begin with. He was about to start asking questions when Gus and Declan walked into the room.

Now he felt his euphoria turning into deeper confusion as each second passed by and Juliet didn't appear at the door. Why did she kiss him? Was it an impulse? Was it a mistake to her? Did she share his feelings? What did it all mean? He felt an urge to go pound on the door and demand answers, but he wasn't sure that he could bear the answers to those questions right now.

From somewhere in the distance he heard his name being called and it took a second to realize that it wasn't in the distance, but instead right beside him.

"Shawn. Shawn? SHAWN!" Gus was yelling at him as he snapped his fingers right by his ear, bringing him back to reality.

"Jeez, Gus! You don't have to yell. It's not like were in the old folk's home yet. I can still hear you know."

"Well with how long it took you to hear me, I'd start thinking about investing in a hearing aid" Gus said, but after seeing that his friend was still wearing a serious expression, he decided it was time to ask some questions.

"What happened between you and Juliet in there?"

He knew he'd hit struck a nerve when Shawn couldn't quite hid his initial surprise that his friend had picked up on the uncomfortable vibe inside the house.

"Wha…What are you talking about Gus?" Shawn asked with one of his deflective laughs, like Gus was out of his mind.

"You know damn well what I'm talking about Shawn. You were totally fine when I left and then I come back with Declan and you can't even look at Juliet or wait to get out of the house. Meanwhile Juliet couldn't stop staring at you, even standing on her tiptoes to look at you over Declan's shoulder."

"She was what?" Shawn asked, caught off guard. He'd been in such a rush to get out of the uncomfortable atmosphere and couldn't bear to look at Juliet and Declan together. He hadn't seen Juliet's reaction while they were in the room.

Realizing that Gus was smirking at having weaseled through his defenses, Shawn backtracked.

"I think that we need to buy you a train ticket to crazy town because there is absolutely nothing going on between me and Jules."

"Really, now?

"Really, buddy I think that you're loosing it."

"So there's nothing going on between you and Juliet?"

"Nope."

After engaging in staring contest for more than a minute, Shawn realized that Gus was not going to back down. After all he had confessed to Gus that Juliet was basically the only woman that he was interested in and that he didn't think that he could be happy without her.

"All right. There is something." Shawn said defeated.

"Haha. I knew it."

"Real mature Gus." Shawn said while rolling his eyes, and then after putting on a sad face he continued. "Okay, so Juliet told me that Declan hates pineapple and that after a long discussion about it, he's convinced her that it's a terrible food and she won't eat it anymore."

"Wha…Shawn you've got to be kidding me." Gus said with some anger.

"No. I'm very serious Gus. I tried to get her to reconsider, but sadly she won't. That Declan's a menace to Pineapples everywhere."

Gus turned away from Shawn and started marching away. Shawn could hear him huffing and muttering under his breath in anger, no doubt due to being unable to get the truth out of Shawn rather than from outrage springing from the lie.

He cracked a small grin at winning the battle temporarily, but knew that there would be more questions eventually. He followed Gus and didn't lose the grin until he sat in the passenger seat and was staring at the house again. It seemed to be mocking him, saying, "I won." The questions started running through his mind again and he needed a distraction. Infuriating his best friend seemed like just the trick. Gus's look of exasperation was just what he was looking for.

"Pineapple Smoothies?"

_**A/N: Next chapter will be Juliet's point of view on what happened and then I'll really start fleshing out the story. Please review and let me know what you think!**_


	2. Chapter 2

_**A/N: Wow! First of all, I wanted to say thank you for all of your awesome reviews! I was totally overwhelmed by the response that I got for the first chapter. Second, sorry about the delay in getting this up. I wanted to get it up sooner, but it's been a really hectic week. Anyway I hope all of you enjoy this chapter as much as you did the first chapter! Please let me know what you think!**_

Juliet felt like her heart fall out of her chest as she watched Shawn walk through Declan's front door. She'd gone through the full range of human emotions within the last few minutes. It had all begun with surprise at finding Shawn in Declan's foyer just a few minutes prior. Asking him about the case had just been a temporary diversion, what had really been going through her mind had been what she'd overheard the previous night.

_She'd been angry as hell when Carlton had told her to stay put in the surveillance van, she was a valuable member of the team, damn it, and she didn't need anybody's protection when it came to assisting taking down a dangerous spy. But then she'd heard Shawn and Gus start to talk and what came next had turned her world upside down._

_"I told that newspaper idea was a dumb idea." Gus started in._

_"Are you at all serious? We just captured a dangerous international spy. You're hung up on the newspaper bit?" Shawn replied._

_Juliet just had to roll her eyes as she had prepared herself for what she was sure was going to be another meaningless banter session between the two of them. Normally she would have enjoyed the comedic relief that it brought to an otherwise tense situation, but tonight she too frustrated that she was having to listen to it because she was a female and not viewed as tough enough to handle herself to enjoy it._

_"No. I'm hung up on the fact that you've been obsessed with this woman this whole time. She makes the ultimate move on you and you shut her down? What's wrong with you? That makes no sense! Are you crazy?" Gus retorted._

_Juliet had been ready to start tuning them out, but at the mention of Nadia and why Shawn had turned her down she began to listen again. She had to admit that every time that Shawn flirted with her over the past five years it had made her heart flutter a little bit and still caused her face to flush slightly, but one of the things that drove her crazy about him was he was good at flirting because that he was a seemingly indiscriminate flirt. It meant that she could never really tell whether she was just another woman in the endless parade of women or whether she meant more to him. _

_She always craved to mean more to him, and had her suspicions that she was special to him, although she had a hard time acknowledging that. However, he had made harder to deny with his jealousy of Declan lately. Had it not been so obvious or uncomfortable, she probably would have found it a little funny. The fact that he hadn't been his self and flirted back with Nadia had been out of character for him and she had wondered why he hadn't at the time. She knew that Gus wouldn't go let it go until he got the answer._

_"I know, it doesn't make any sense. Maybe I am crazy. All I can tell you is just now, in that moment, all I could think about was Jules. I just can't wrap myself around the fact that she's dating Declan. Actually… it's actually killing me." Shawn said, which took Juliet from just simply interested to she would wring anybody's neck if they tried to stop her from listening in now. As soon as he had said her name, she had felt her heartbeat speed up and her palms start to sweat. She felt like she was on the verge of finding out the answers to all of the questions she'd had, but been too scared to ask for such a long time. She was scared but excited. _

_However, at the same time she was a little angry. She'd put herself out there and asked him out two years ago only to find out he was already on a date with Abigail. She'd been majorly disappointed and hurt, only to have to experience the creeping, sometimes overwhelming, sensations of jealously as they'd continued their relationship. It wasn't fair that he couldn't deal with her being happy when she had graciously coped with his relationship with Abigail._

_"Shawn, that is not fair."_

_"I know, I know it's not fair. And you're right. She likes this guy, who I am to stand in the way?"_

_"Exactly." _

_She felt somewhat vindicated as Gus stood up for her and seemed to echo her thoughts. She also felt a little ashamed of thinking of Shawn as selfish and uncaring. He recognized that she was happy and admitted that he was being selfish. If she was being honest with herself, although she'd never quite acted as immaturely jealous as Shawn had been lately, she'd felt just as jealous when he'd been with Abigail and had been overly happy when she'd found out that'd they'd broken up. She already felt a little bit like her head was spinning from what she'd heard, but Shawn's next words made her sent her whole world spinning._

_"You think I don't want her to be happy? I want her to be happy. But…serious Shawn moment here…I want to be happy too, but, for some reason, I can't imagine that happening without Juliet. How crazy is that?" Shawn said in perhaps one of the most serious voices she'd ever heard him use._

_She completely lost track of the conversation after that. She felt like all of the air had been sucked out of the surveillance van and as though somebody had knocked her off of her feet. She had to lean against the wall of the van to stop the feeling that she was going to fall over at any given second. Shawn's words just kept replaying in her head over and over._

_She wasn't just another woman in the long line of women that Shawn flirted with to seemingly just have a good time. She was the one that he saw himself committing to, having a life with, growing old with. And to be honest she could easily see herself growing old with him. She sensed that there would never be a dull moment and that there would never be a lack of passion or love._

_Her mind felt like it was going a thousand miles an hour when she started to her partner mumbling something incoherent as he approached the van. It only became clearer as he got closer._

_"Arrogant Washington Asses. 'Sorry Detective, but unless you know somebody with a time machine who can send you back in time to go through the academy to get a top secret government clearance then you're of no further use to us.' What kind of crap is that? I'll show them what use I can be when I'm removing my foot from their…"_

_"Carlton!" Juliet shouted before her partner could finish his sentence._

_Her partner looked up in shock, obviously having forgotten leaving her there._

_"O'Hara, what are you doing here?"_

_"You told me to stay put in the van, remember?" Juliet said, injecting a little more venom than she had intended to as she remembered why she was in the van in the first place._

_Carlton looked at her in confusion for a couple seconds and then she saw his confusion turn to concern._

_"Are you all right O'Hara?"_

_"I'm fine." She stated and turned away hoping that he would pick up that she didn't want to talk right now. She had a lot more important things on her mind and she didn't want to talk about any of it until she'd had more time to process it._

_"Are you sure?" Carlton continued, not picking up on her clues. Then after a long pause, he hesitantly added, "It looks like you just saw a ghost or something."_

_Juliet was a little bit taken aback by the fact that Carlton's concern stemmed from her shaken response from overhearing Shawn's conversation rather than from her apparent anger at being left in the van. She felt her anger fading as she turned around and saw the genuine concern in his expression._

_"I'm okay. It's just been a long day."_

_He continued to stare at her and she knew he was debating whether or not to ask more questions. Although still torn, he finally seemed to make up his mind._

_"Okay, but if you need to talk about anything I'm here for…"_

_Carlton was cut off by the ringing of her cell phone, which, at the moment, she was more than happy to hear. He always meant well, but seeing the softer, sympathetic side of Carlton always made her feel a little awkward._

_"Thank you Carlton." Then after an uncomfortable pause, "I should really get this," she said pointing at the cell phone she had removed from her pocket._

_She didn't even bother to look at her phone until she had jumped out of the van and taken several steps. Her heart felt like it was being put in a vice grip when she finally did. The caller ID read Declan Rand._

_She took a couple deep breaths and after running her hands through her hair a few times while debating whether or not to pick up the phone, she finally made up her mind. She needed more time to think things through before talking to him. She wasn't sure where they stood now that she had heard Shawn's confession._

She had gone to Declan's house later that night, but hadn't stayed like she had the previous night. As soon as she saw him she felt almost instant guilt. She knew that he was starting to fall for her, but she wasn't sure of whether she was capable of falling for anyone right now when her heart was with a certain psychic detective. So she had pretended everything was fine, stayed long enough to talk about the trip, and then said goodbye.

She had decided later on that night to go on vacation with him. She hadn't been meant to overhear what she had heard and she convinced herself that until she heard Shawn tell it to her himself, he wasn't ready for what a real relationship with her would mean. In the meantime, she didn't know where things with Declan might go or what she miss out on if she broke things off.

Then Shawn had shown up at her place and sent her whole world spinning for the second time in two days. She had been surprised to walk into the foyer and see Shawn standing there by himself. As soon as she saw him, she felt her certainty that she needed to wait for him to say something directly start to waver.

She had tried to distract herself from those thoughts by questioning him about their latest case. That didn't work for very long though and soon the conversation turned towards the upcoming vacation. When she had been forced to correct him about the length about the vacation, she felt like she'd personally stabbed him in the back as she saw how much pain that revelation caused him. She could tell that he didn't know what to say at first as he awkwardly blabbered on about the length of the vacation and how "significant" it was. Then he'd truly surprised her. She could see him giving his speech as if it were a movie playing in her mind.

_"Have an amazing trip. Okay? Promise me." Shawn began. She immediately became overwhelmed by sadness and all she could do was nod. Shawn was hurting, but he was trying to put her happiness first._

_"Because, cause, you know they say these kind of trips are a once in a lifetime experiences and that they're even better when you have someone that you have to care about to share them with. And…you do. Take lots of pictures. Not of sights, don't take pictures of buildings."_

_"Take pictures of moments, cause that's what matters. Capture them here and hold onto them here." Juliet felt her heart sink in her chest as she watched Shawn trying to let her go. He was in so much pain and she was the source of the pain, but the most important thing to him was that she just be happy even if he wasn't. As he talked about moments, she remembered several between the two of them. The first time that they met, their close talking encounter, when they went undercover as married couple at the nanny agency, her asking him out at the drive in theater, him getting shot and the following phone conversation, and what she overheard the previous night. They had so much history together and she'd seen him mature into a deeply caring, good, thoughtful man while he still had managed to keep the better parts of his personality intact such as his humor, his courage, and so much more._

_"At least that's what I would do. I don't know you might take blurry photos of your espresso at some random café…" he had continued until she couldn't fight the longing and desire that she had suppressed for so long. She stepped forward and kissed him, cutting him off mid sentence._

_In that one moment, time seemed to stop. She felt her heart race so fast that it felt like it was going to come out of her chest, she felt her sadness fade away, she felt a rush of excitement and happiness, and she felt like every nerve was going to explode in pleasure at the contact. As she registered all of those things, her brain also processed the sweet taste of pineapple, the scent of his cologne, and the softness of his hair and his lips._

_He was confused and she could tell. He was kissing her back, but still holding back slightly. She deepened the kiss in an attempt to convey all of her feelings to him and felt like she never wanted to let go of him again._

_Then she suddenly remembered where they were. She had pulled back from the kiss and could feel Shawn's disappointment. For the next couple of seconds they had just stared at one another and she felt as though they both were searching one another's souls. It was an experience unlike anything she had ever been through before._

_Declan had started calling out for her at that point. She saw Shawn getting ready to bolt for the door and suddenly felt very torn. Declan had come into the room and was talking about buying some hotel, but all she cared about was Shawn's reaction. She had to keep looking over Declan's shoulder to see Shawn and all she wanted to do in that moment was to push Declan away and find out where she and Shawn stood._

_Shawn looked dazed and confused. She kept wondering what was going through his mind. She could tell he was going to run when he wouldn't maintain eye contact and, sure enough, he couldn't seem to get out of the house fast enough. He managed to avoid looking at her again until he got to the door. When their eyes locked again, she could see the questions he wanted answered so badly. Why? What does this mean?_

_As she watched him walk out the door she felt her breaking. When Declan walked away, she kept praying that she would hear a knock on the door. But ten minutes later and the knock still hadn't come._

She had never felt more torn in her life. She wanted to go find Shawn and confront him, but wasn't sure that was the right move. She had just shown him how she felt and what did he do? He ran like he always did. He could have stayed and demanded answers, but he didn't.

She had kissed numerous men, but none of them had the effect on her that Shawn had just had. There was something electrifying about it. She had the urge to do it again, but she was scared of rejection. Did Shawn realize that he didn't truly mean what he said the night before? If he did, she wasn't sure she could handle that.

Juliet knew that she had to make a decision and soon. She and Declan were scheduled to leave for the Amalfi Coast in the morning and now she had to decide whether she wanted to be with him at all or take a giant leap of faith and try to finally make things work with Shawn.

She spent half an hour pacing by the outdoor pool, unable to make up her mind, and realized that she needed some advice on what to do. She hit the speed dial on her cell phone for one of her best friends. Someone who she had confided in about how she felt about Shawn and all the things that had happened in between them. It only rang twice before her friend picked up.

She cut right to the chase, "Hey Jen, I need some advice and quick. Can you meet me at the Lumbre Plaza Mall in 30 minutes?"

_**A/N: Hope you guys enjoyed this! Next chapter will be Juliet and Jen meeting up. Will she tell Juliet to stick with Declan or risk it all for Shawn? You'll have to read to find out. Please let me know what you think in a review: the good, the bad, any ideas you have, etc!**_


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